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Amid coronavirus scare, Rahul Gandhi warns of 'economic tsunami'

Warning of an "economic tsunami", Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said the country should prepare itself not merely to tackle the coronavirus pandemic but also the economic devastation that would affect crores of people.

Speaking to reporters in the Parliament premises, Rahul Gandhi, who has ratcheted his attack on the government over the economic slowdown, said, "It is like a tsunami is coming. India should be preparing itself not just for coronavirus but for the economic devastation that is coming. I am saying it again and again. Our people are going to go through unimaginable pain in the next 6 months."

Hitting out at the Prime Minister, Gandhi said Narendra Modi should get his head "out of the sand" to deal with the problem facing the country. "I am trying to tell the PM 'get your head out of the sand. Your head is right now in the sand, pull it out, look around what is going on'. Don't be scared, remove the fear you have carried all your life because India needs you to do that," PTI quoted Gandhi as saying.

To highlight the gloomy economic situation, Gandhi also narrated an incident, saying before the tsunami came, the water receded off the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and when fishermen went to sea, the tsunami struck.

"So the water is going to come. I have been warning the government that a massive (economic) tsunami is coming and they are fooling about, they are not clear about what to do. India should be preparing itself not just for COVID-19 virus but for the economic devastation that is coming," he said.

Rahul Gandhi's remarks come on a day Moody's Investors Service lowered India's GDP growth forecast for the 2020 calendar year to 5.3 per cent following coronavirus implications on the economy.

"I am not bothered about what the outsiders are saying, I understand what our strengths are. These (government) people do not believe in our strengths. These people want to be rated by Moody's, by Standard & Poor's, to be rated by Mr (Donald) Trump. I don't give a damn about that rating," he said.

(Inputs and image from theindianexpress.com)

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